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Forum Name ("Ian Markon" can be put in parentheses in order to make the connection easier for those who are meeting me at the artist tables or taking my classes. I understand if space constraints make that impossible, though.)

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This one was for a facebook competition about color. The rules were, basically, don't worry about anything else but color. Do something different with color. I started with the idea of a dress palette of blue, teal, purple, and magenta. Once I had those colors in place, it was a matter of incorporating them in different areas of the model. I went with cotton candy roses and a galaxy print on the wings. The galaxy was a matter of stippling the dress colors (plus a bit of white) back and forth until the effect was convincing. Then I masked the body of the model and flicked a stiff brush at the wings to make star patterns. I then went back to the dress colors and stippling to blend them in a bit. This was a blast to paint, because I've never really done anything like this before.

Yes, a 2020 ReaperCon WIP! And a massive undertaking at that. I'm trying very hard not to nerd out and put this whole project into, er, Project. There's just so many pieces to keep track of, that maybe I'll just use this first post to keep track of things.

Some background stuff, starting with a quote from the "Paint a giant robot! Group WIP" where I wrote some of what's planned:

You can read the rest of that post here: Paint a giant robot post and a second one to see where I'm going with this: PLA print post in same topic

Biggest takeaway is that, while useful, my PLA printer can only do so much. I have a resin printer backed on Kickstarter, but considering it's now 3 years late, I don't think I should hold my breath on it ever showing up. Especially when I can get a new Elegoo Mars resin printer with more capability for relatively cheap (<$300). The PLA machine was bought with both hobby and household goals in mind, and it's served well. But the resolution just ain't there! More on that down the posts.

I also had the chance to gain some experience on paper plants at ReaperCon (Main post for that in the Terrain section post here: Vellum Paper Plants - Alien Jungle (WIP)

Basically, I have the scrap booking machine to make my own alien plants:

Which now leads me to this WIP. This is going to tie all those pieces together. The robot WIP will still be to get a good camo scheme, but that print job is not going to be used for the final diorama. Instead, that will be the resin printer's job. So, let's break down the WIP work that I can see so far, and will be edited later to add things and mark completions.

Tasks to be completed:

Figures Needed
Wight (being pulled down backwards, caught by hidden lines)
Gremlin Unit 01 (stole a supply crate and ran; actually just bait to get the larger CAV to follow)
Gremlin Units 02 and 03 (trip line pair, successfully snagging Wight across the chest)
Gremlin Units 04 and 05 (trip line pair, successful across another part of the chest)
Gremlin Unit 06 (burner unit, cut Wight's left gun in two)
Gremlin Units 07 and 08 (trap door unit, hiding entrance to jungle path with camo doors strapped to them)
Gremlin Units 09 and 10 (trip line pair, successful across right thigh)
Gremlin Units 11 and 12 (trip line pair, broken cable across chest, possibly falling over from sudden jolt)
Gremlin Unit 13 (ECM unit, some large radar dish looking thing)
Gremlin Units 14, 15 and 16 (cargo units, loaded up with stolen supplies and headed out)
Gremlin Units 17, 18, 19, and 20 (gun units)
Gremlin Units 21, 22, and 23 (missile units)
Gremlin Unit 24 (large gun unit)
Gremlin Unit 25 and 26 (junked units; scavenged for parts?)
Gremlin Unit 27 (2nd style missile unit)
Gremlin Unit 28 (personnel carrier unit)
Wight Conversion
Right Leg: cut from pelvis; reposition
Feet: cut off both feet and swap positions since the tread is only on one foot
Base: cut away from right foot, possibly keeping full base around left foot
Left arm (maybe): cut gun into two pieces, having one falling to the ground after being cut by a heat lance/chainsaw rope
Details to be included
Camo doors at front leaving marks on the dirt path, but hiding the ambush from the main trail
Pieces of old broken larger CAV units around
Wight gun cut in two, maybe showing inner details. May have to 3D print an add-on piece
Dust being kicked up by the stolen crate (going to try using dyed cotton) IN WORK
One cable snapping dynamically, with several bends and twists (superglue on thread?)
Multiple vehicle tracks around camp
Campfire and tents for people
A latrine
Other camp details (laundry, chairs, sports equipment, bored carvings, etc)
Jungle Plants (V=Vellum cuts, B=bought, S=Sculpted, F=Found, P=Printed)
Large lotus flower like plants, but dry land and maybe odd colors with a large conifer cone growing from the middle (V)
Jester hat plant (balls on stems around a central point) (V) COMPLETED
Spiky yucca like plant (V)
Jagged leaf plant (V)
Tentacle plant (V)
Tripod trees (three spoke trunks) (V)
Large palm fronds (S)
Coral like trees (P)
Horn tree (lots of horn shaped leaves from a central trunk) (P, V)
Ball vine (like ivy but with odd leaf shapes) (V)
Cabbage-like jungle plants with large wrinkled leaves (V)
Fuzzy vines (thin wire coated with static grass) (S)
Anything I can buy from N/HO scale train setups and painted alien-ish (B)
Reaper figures that can be clipped and painted to be plants (B)
Odd trees with strange leaf shapes (onion shaped) (V) IN WORK
Random grass-like jungle plants (V) IN WORK
Stem ends from mandarin oranges (seriously, pull one off and look at it, stem towards the ground) (F)
Anything and everything else (VBSFP)
Base mounting system
Design and print modular tiles with bristles on top (basically, Bristle Block toys)
Allows mounting of all the above jungle plants
Fill in around plants with thinned plaster via a syringe to create the ground surfaces

So Reapercon 2019 was great as far as my classes went. I taught 6 courses, all were sold out, most were 2 people beyond capacity (which was fine because I was ready for that possibility) But I feel like 6 was just 1 too many to organize, prep, practice and deliver. All of my classes seemed to be very much enjoyed by those who attended and I got some awesome feedback from some folks.

so.. which one to not do... that's a hard question as I enjoyed all of them.

first, the must keeps.
Water Effects. that class probably could have sold out 2 or 3 times. so many want to take that so its in.
Realistic Gore. Overwhelming high praise from a lot of folks, so thats in. plus its it's ridiculously fun for me.
Weathering and aging. This is an easy one for me to teach, always sells out and gets great reviews. Kind of have to keep due to demand.

Up for debate.
Dragons. I have taught multiple variants of this class. Its not bad, and folks seem to like it but Im not sure if the demand is still high.
Tabletop painting. Sells out but slowly. Its one of my strengths though. fast painting at a high tabletop level.
Kids classes. I do these mainly to ensure that the kids programming continues to grow. The little artists amaze me every time. Its a lot of fun and full of surprises by talented young artists. may need to keep on principle.

other subjects I have taught but not sure if folks still would be interested.
woodland bases, lava bases, ice and snow bases.
batch painting.
Blending toolbox. (kind of a whole host of various techniques to blend)

obviously, Reaper would need to approve any of these, just thinking ahead so that my submission requests will be ready when its time.